Memory for DL360 G5 (PC2-5300)

Question

I've been looking high and low, and it appears that the PC2-5300 RAM for the DL360 G5 is rather expensive.

From what I can tell, it takes PC2-5300 DDR's - which seem to be the most expensive memory on the planet.

I'd like to load 32GB of RAM into two of these servers, but the pricing I'm seeing (4GB at NewEgg is around $100, making 32GB 8x4GB = $800!), it's nearly cheaper to buy a different server (Supermicro's latest servers are more like $80 per 8GB, with ECC Registered DIMM's).

What gives? Did I miss something? Is there somewhere else to get this RAM, or can a different type be used?

Thanks!

Answer 1

You should try buying FB-DIMMs for an older Xeon if you think that 32gb for $800 is expensive.

That said, the price of anything in this world (not just RAM) is dicted by supply and demand. DDR2 is old, so it is becoming more and more scarse. Also, demand has not really dropped much (ok, so for new servers it's a non-existant market, but there as so many older servers that are still 'good enough' that they only need RAM upgrades), so low supply plus high demand equals a high price.

Answer 2

No, you didn't miss anything except maybe time. DDR3 has supplanted DDR2 so you will now pay a premium for DDR2. Both the G6 and G7 versions of the DL360 use DDR3. Next time you buy a server, buy lots of memory with it, or at least keep your eye out for when DDR(N+1) comes out.